INXS: The Wolf Trap Review

This post is from Barbara Parker.


Full disclosure: I am a huge INXS fan and this is a totally biased recap. I stole their album Kick from my cool uncle. I vividly remember illicitly watching the cue cards of the "Mediate" video when MTV used to play music videos. I watched Rock Star: INXS religiously. And, yes, I wanted J.D. Fortune to win.

I know many die-hard fans can't subscribe to the theory of having anyone stand in for lead singer Michael Hutchence (R.I.P.) and many won't partake in the practice of seeing the band live with a new front man. I am not going to argue that anyone can replace Michael. Michael simply can't be replaced. But INXS pays homage to him every time they step onstage.

Here's the thing- INXS has really good songs. The defining quality of a good song is this- it has eternal life. A good song lives beyond the voice of the songwriter or the original lead singer and past the breaking up of a band. And INXS's hits- they are all really good songs.

The show opened last night with Terri Nunn leading Berlin in a high intensity 45-minute set. See set list below. Terri is a rock goddess- she draws energy from the crowd, even venturing, barefoot, to deliver "Take My Breath Away" from the back of the house.

INXS took the stage with "Drum Opera" leading straight into "Suicide Blonde." For the next 90 minutes, INXS poured their heart and soul into their Wolf Trap debut. There was a new arrangement of "New Sensation" with one of the female backup singers taking the lead. There was an LED backdrop with the words to "Mediate" flashing in the style of that previously mentioned MTV video. There was an old arrangement of "New Sensation," which the crowd definitely preferred.

So slide over here
And give me a moment
Your moves are so raw
I've got to let you know
I've got to let you know
You're one of my kind


Don't ask me
What you know is true
Don't have to tell you
I love your precious heart
I, I was standing
You were there
Two worlds collided
And they could never tear us apart


This was an INXS show.

INXS is now entering their fourth decade of making good songs. And there is clearly nothing that is going to slow them down.